EVAPORATION MEANS AND METHOD

Abstract: An evaporator (11), which includes a water chamber (72) for receiving water to be evaporated. A plurality of evaporator tubes (60) which when heated, and when water is on an inner wall of a tube, evaporates at least a portion of that water. A plurality of distributors (100) spatially connecting the water chamber with the evaporator tubes in a manner so that each distributor (100) uniformly and distributes the water from the water chamber to an inner wall of a corresponding evaporator tube. A heat source, which heats the plurality of tubes to an evaporation temperature. Apparatus distills the water vapor resulting from the water evaporation to provide distilled water.

Description: EVAPORATION MEANS AND METHOD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to all distillation means and methods in general and, more particularly, to evaporation. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An evaporator, which includes a water chamber for receiving water to be evaporated. A plurality of evaporator tubes which when heated, and when water is on an inner wall of a tube, evaporates at least a portion of that water. A plurality of distributors spatially connecting the water chamber with the evaporator tubes in a manner so that each distributor uniformly distributes the water from the water chamber to an inner wall of a corresponding evaporator tube. A heat source, which heats the plurality of tubes to an evaporation temperature. Apparatus distills the water vapor resulting from the water evaporation to provide distilled water. The objects and advantages of those inventions will appear more fully hereinafter from a consideration of details of description which follows, taken together with the accompanying drawings, wherein one embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for illustration purposes only and are not to be construed as defining the limits of the invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a partial simplified block diagram and a partial schematic of an evaporation system utilizing an evaporator constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of the evaporator shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a cut-away drawing along the line 3-3 in the direction of the arrows shown in Fig. 4 of the distributor shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a top view of the distributor shown in Fig. 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Generally waste water has to be handled under current environmental regulatory actions. One such process uses an evaporator for zero discharge of waste water which recovers clean water for reuse as intake water in the discharging facility and making a low volume byproduct stream for final disposal or resource recovery. The leading technology is waste water distillation, which produces clean distilled water and concentrated brine as a byproduct. The evaporator is a water film evaporator in which the water falls on the inside of evaporator tubes which are heated by steam to provide the evaporation. The hot brine and water vapors exits from the bottom of the evaporator tube and are separated in the brine removal means. A portion of the brine is blown down as product brine and most of the brine is recirculated by the brine pump back up to the top of the tube. If the water is not effectively provided to an evaporator tube, particularly for waste water, which contains fouling and scaling materials, those materials are deposited on the sides of the evaporator tube. The water is designed to flow uniformly to prevent local areas of high concentration of dryness which would lead to scaling or fouling at those points and thus, the loss of heat transfer. The present invention achieves a uniform flow of water in the evaporator tubes thereby increasing the efficiency of evaporation and minimizing fouling and scaling of the evaporator tube. With reference to Fig 1, there is shown a conventional-type evaporation system in which water enters an evaporator 11 through lines 1 and 5. Evaporator 11 is a conventional-type evaporator except as modified in accordance with the present invention which will be explained in greater detail later. The object of evaporator 11 is the evaporation of water; however, brine still accumulates in evaporator 11. The brine accumulation is recirculated by a pump 15 and pumped through brine removal means 22 where the water is then returned by line 25 to line 5. Also shown in Fig. 1 are distillate recovery means 36 which condenses the water vapor coming from evaporator 11. The evaporation within evaporator 11 occurs due to the steam heat provided by a steam source 42. Referring now to Fig 2, evaporator 11 is shown as having vertical separation by cut-away lines and horizontal separation by cut-away lines. The vertical separation is to indicate that there is a plurality of tubes used for evaporation. The horizontal separation is to indicate that there is great length to these tubes, some of them 20 to 30 feet in length, and also to show the water accumulation at the bottom of evaporator 11. Water evaporator 11 includes a dome 50 which is connected to and sealed with sidewalls 54 of evaporator 11. A plurality of tubes 60 is held in place by a plate 65. Tubes 60 extend down to a chamber 72. Located in chamber 72 are conventional demisters 79, which performs the functions of vapor/liquid separation. Heretofore, an arrangement of providing water to each tube was general in nature and it was such that it caused water to run down one location within a tube. The present invention is a fluid distributor 100. Referring to Figs. 3 and 4 as well, Fig 3 is a cut-away view of distributor 100 in the direction of lines 3-3 shown in Fig. 4. As shown in Fig. 3, distributor 100 is a one piece unit, molded so that it fits inside of an evaporator tube 60 supported by the overhang 105. A horizontal portion 110 is formed having holes 115 therethrough. A preferred hole arrangement is a pattern of eight holes, each hole arranged along a radius from a horizontal center of distributor 100 having a 45° relationship to the radii on each side of it. Each hole also has a 5/16 inch diameter. There is a lower truncated conical portion 126 of distributor 100 which flares out at approximately 45° from a vertical cylindrical portion 131. Another horizontal portion 139 provides the bottom end of distributor 100. The vertical portion 131 ensures that the distribution of water is definitely into evaporator tube 60. Some other dimensions of distributor 100 that have been used are along the lines for an evaporator tube 60, are an outer diameter of two inches and an inner diameter of 1.944 inches. The maximum diameter of horizontal portion 110 is substantially the same as the inner diameter of evaporator tube 60. However, it should be further noted that the bottom horizontal element 139 has a diameter of 1.756 inches while the junction of the 45° of the conical portion 126 has a diameter of 1.5 inches, but leaves a little lip at the end of the conical section 126. The difference between the diameter of the horizontal bottom portion of distributor 100 and wall 61 of evaporator tub 60 creates a gap of approximately 3/32. Thus, as shown by arrows in Fig. 2, the water passes straight down from holes 115 and meets conical section 126 where the water is directed downward and outward. The water flows downward and outward until it counts bottom horizontal element 139 which causes the water to flow out in a general horizontal direction subject to the pull of gravity over that gap of 3/32 inches. The water then comes in contact with wall 61 of evaporator tube 60 and flows down wall 61.

Claims: WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. An evaporator comprising: water means for receiving water to be evaporated, a plurality of tube means, each tube means being means for evaporating water when heated to provide a water vapor, a plurality of distributor means spatially related to the water means and to the plurality of tube means, each distributor means being means for uniformly distributing water from the water means to an inner wall of a corresponding tube means, heat means for heating the plurality of tube means to an evaporation temperature, and means for condensing the water vapor from the plurality of tube means to provide distilled water. 2. An evaporator as described in Claim 1 in which each distributor means includes: passing means for passing the water from the water means in a predetermined pattern, and directing means for directing the passed water in different directions to the inner wall of the tube means. 3. An evaporator described in Claim 2 in which each distributing means is a single molded body, and includes the passing means is in a first portion of the body that is perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the corresponding tube means and having holes of a predetermined diameter arranged in a predetermined pattern, a second portion of the body is cylindrical in shape and extends into the corresponding tube means, a third portion of the body is truncated conical in shape in which the conical angle is at a predetermined angle with the longitudinal access of the tube means so as to direct the passed water from the first portion of the body to move downward and outward, and a fourth portion of the body being a disk in shape having a predetermined diameter that is perpendicular to the longitudinal access of the tube means and sufficiently smaller than the diameter of the tube means so as to direct the water in a substantially horizontal direction to encounter the inner wall of the tube means without causing the passed water to accumulate on the body. 4. An evaporator as described in Claim 3 in which there are eight holes in each distributor means, each hole being spatially arranged along a radius of a horizontal center of the distributor, for uniform distribution of liquid. 5. An evaporator as described in Claim 4 in which the diameter of each hole in the distributor means if 5/16 inches. 6. An evaporator as described in Claim 5 in which not all of the water provided to the plurality of evaporating tube means is evaporated so that some water issues from the plurality of tube means, and further comprising means for removing salt from the water issuing from the plurality of tube means. 7. A distributor comprising: passing means for passing the water from the water means in a predetermined pattern, and directing means for directing the passed water in different directions to the inner wall of the tube means. 8. A distributor as described in Claim 7 in which the distributor is a single molded body; and the passing means is a first portion of the body that is perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the corresponding tube means and having holes of a predetermined diameter arranged in a predetermined pattern, a second portion of the body is cylindrical in shape and extends into the corresponding tube means, a third portion of the body is truncated conical in shape in which the conical angle is at a predetermined angle with the longitudinal access of the tube means so as to direct the passed water from the first portion of the body to move downward and outward, and The directing means is a fourth portion of the body and being a disk in shape having a predetermined diameter that is perpendicular to the longitudinal access of the tube means and sufficiently smaller than the diameter of the tube means so as to direct the water in a substantially horizontal direction to encounter the inner wall of the tube means without causing the passed water to accumulate on the body. 9. A distributor as described in Claim 8 in which there are a pattern of multiple holes in each distributor means, each hole being spatially arranged along a radius of a horizontal center of the distributor. 10. A distributor as described in Claim 11 in which the diameter of each hole in the distributor means is 5/16 inches. 11. A distributor as described in Claim 10 in which not all of the water provided to the plurality of evaporating tube means is evaporated so that some water issues from the plurality of tube means, and further comprising means for removing salt from the water issuing from the plurality of tube means. 12. A method of evaporating water comprising the steps of: receiving water to be evaporated, using a plurality of tube means, each tube means being means for evaporating water when heated to provide a water vapor, using a plurality of distributor means related to the plurality of tube means, each distributor means being means for uniformly distributing received water form the water means to an inner wall of a corresponding tube means, heating the plurality of tube means to an evaporation temperature, and condensing the water vapor from the plurality of tube means to provide distilled water. 13. A method as described in Claim 12 in which using the plurality of distributor means step includes: passing the received water in a predetermined pattern to each tube means, and directing the passed water in each tube means in different directions to the inner wall ' of the tube means.

Inventors: VUONG DINH-CUONG, VUONG, DINH-CUONG
Applicants: TEXACO DEVELOPMENT CORP, VUONG DINH CUONG, TEXACO DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, VUONG, DINH-CUONG
Application year: 1994
Main classification: B01D1
IPC codes: B01D1, B01D3, C02F1